Billionaire Behind the Mask

by Andrea Laurence

  “Why do I have to tell her?” Grant asked, sounding genuinely put out.

  Byron lightly hit his father’s shoulder. “Because it’s my party and I don’t want to.” He wrapped his arm around Yolanda’s shoulders and maneuvered her away from his dad in the opposite direction of Elaina.

  “You know you were wrong for doing that,” Yolonda said, chuckling.

  “He’s the one who told me to relax. Dealing with whatever is bothering Elaina is not my idea of relaxing.”

  Yolanda sighed and leaned farther into him. “I still can’t believe you’re okay with India and Travis. God knows how we’re going to smooth over this situation with them in the media. We don’t need anything smearing your campaign.”

  “Don’t worry. This won’t smear my campaign. If anything, it’ll show how well our family works together.” Or reveal just how cracked we are beneath the polished exterior.

  Byron caught the eye of one of his larger donors. He smiled and waved and moved in that direction. He added worrying about his family’s image to the long list of items he’d have to overcome if he hoped to win in November.

  Yolanda dug her feet in and stopped him. Her eyes were serious as they met his. “I’m not playing about this. We have to be delicate moving forward. I’m with you to win. Not to let the soft spot you have for your baby sister and best friend derail this train.”

  Yolanda’s words were pragmatic as always. Her practicality and ability to strategize was why he’d agreed to this engagement, but that didn’t stop irritation from crawling up his spine. Happiness was hard to obtain. So why get in the way when two people he cared about actually found it? He may not be a proponent of true love, but he also wouldn’t begrudge those who were.

  “I know why you’re here,” he said. She reminded him at least once a week. “We need each other, and it’ll take both of us to win. Don’t worry about India and Travis. That won’t be the thing that kills my campaign.”

  “Byron! Congratulations!” The happy voice of the donor whose eye he’d caught a second ago.

  “Hello, Mr. Sparrow. Mrs. Sparrow, so good to see you again.” Byron grinned and shook hands.

  Yolanda’s face became a mask of blissful happiness as they talked and schmoozed their way through the party. This was their future. He’d known what he was getting into when his campaign manager mentioned that proposing and marrying would make him a more viable candidate.

  So why was it bothering him tonight?

  Things were going the way he wanted them to. Yolanda’s business ties, along with her family’s history in politics, combined with his family’s wealth and influence was political gold. On top of that, he liked her. She was driven, attractive, passionate and had let him know from their very first date she wanted to help him on his rise to the top. Yolanda was a woman who knew her own mind and didn’t apologize for going after what she wanted. He’d never have to guess where he stood with her.

  Movement in his periphery caught his eye. He turned and his entire body went rigid. Guess everything wasn’t going as planned tonight. Dominic, the consultant he’d hired to help with his campaign, made his way toward Byron, his expression grim and his dark eyes blank.

  Nothing good could come of Dominic showing up tonight. He’d hired the guy months ago to handle a situation from his past, one that Byron had paid a lot of money to hopefully fix. Dominic kept in touch to let him know if anything popped up. Mostly via email and the occasional phone call. Never in person.

  Byron excused himself from the group. Ignoring Yolanda’s concerned gaze, he walked up to Dominic. “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone is here to see you.” Dominic’s calm expression didn’t waver. Dominic was always calm. An observer who could charm as easily as he could intimidate. Despite his calm, the sharpness of his gaze put Byron on edge.

  Byron’s heart jumped in his chest. “Zoe?” He’d thought he’d protected her. Had something gone wrong?

  Dominic shook his head. “No. She’s still back home living her life with no signs of any problems. But I don’t know if I can guarantee that much longer.”

  Byron shifted closer to Dominic. He rubbed his beard, a new habit now that he had one, and tried not to let the fear seeping into him show. “What?”

  Dominic nodded his head back toward the door. “Come with me. You don’t want him to create a scene.”

  Him? “Let’s go.” Byron followed Dominic out of the party, through the kitchen in the back and into an empty office. Once inside, a man he didn’t recognize turned and faced him. Slim, with beady black eyes and a shifting stance. Byron immediately didn’t like the guy.

  “Byron Robidoux, this is Carlton Powell,” Dominic said through clenched teeth.

  Byron’s hands tightened into fists. “Carlton Powell? What the hell do you want with me?” Byron had paid Dominic a lot of money to make Carlton stay out of his business. Carlton had been hired to find the same person Byron had been looking for before announcing his run. Byron thought the payoff would ensure Carlton moved on to other thing.

  Carlton rubbed his hands together. “Don’t be so rude. As you know, I’m here to do you a favor.”

  “I don’t need any favors from you.” Byron glared at Dominic. “You brought him here?”

  Dominic shook his head. “No. I’ve kept tabs on him. When I found out he was in town, I followed him here. Stopped him before he went in there to confront you.”

  “I’m not confronting anyone,” Carlton said with the nerve to sound affronted. “I’m just here because I’ve got an offer I think the future senator can’t refuse.”

  “What offer is that?” Byron asked.

  “The offer to keep what I know to myself instead of telling all those happy people out there.” Carlton pointed to the closed door. “About you being a deadbeat dad.”

  Byron’s stomach flipped and sweat ran down his back, but he didn’t flinch. He hadn’t become a defense attorney and served a term in the state house without knowing how to hide his shock. “I’m not a deadbeat dad. I don’t have any children.”

  “That’s not what I’ve heard,” Carlton said, sounding like he’d gotten the gospel truth on everything Byron Robidoux. “You see, after you sent me on my way, I did a little digging on my own. Turns out the woman you told me to stay away from also told a few people you were the father of her kid.”

  Byron gritted his teeth. He should have known this would come back. He didn’t have any children, but thirteen years ago he’d agreed to help a friend out by keeping her secret and going along with a lie. The image of Zoe in his college apartment, her face bruised, and tears in her eyes as she’d clung to him, played like a bad movie in his mind.

  Byron, please say the baby is yours. He’ll kill me if I stay with him. This is my only way out.

  Even now the memory filled him with rage and helplessness. Zoe had been his best friend. His homegirl. He’d loved her with everything he had, but when he’d told her, she’d tossed his love back at him as if playing hot potato. She’d been in love with someone else. A guy Byron had never thought deserved her. A guy Byron discovered way too late that he’d been right about. So he’d kept her secret. Said the child was his and promised never to say anything.

  “You’re coming to me with rumors,” Byron replied coldly. He wasn’t playing his hand without knowing exactly what Carlton knew and wanted.

  Carlton shrugged. “Rumors can do a lot of damage. You see, I doubt you’re really the father. The person who originally sent me to find the old girl was pretty sure someone else was the father. Now, I took your money to lead them off her trail, but then I got to thinking why so many people were interested in this one woman and her kid. Did a little research and here we are.” He sounded pleased with himself.

  “Get to the point,” Dominic said in a deadly voice.

  “My point is regardless of who is the baby daddy, I think word
getting out about everyone’s favorite candidate possibly being on the birth certificate won’t be good for this campaign you’ve got going so well. You know the early polls show you’re going to beat the other guy. Be a damn shame to lose because people think you’re an absentee father.”

  Byron didn’t have time for this. “What do you want?” he asked instead of going with the urge to shove Carlton into the wall.

  “A million dollars,” Carlton said without missing a heartbeat. “I know you’re good for it. Your family is known for its wealth.”

  “I don’t have a million dollars.” He did, but he’d be damned if this guy got any more of his money.

  “Oh, I don’t want it tonight. I’ll give you say...two weeks to come up with the money.” Carlton spoke as if he were a debt collector who’d done a client a favor by extending the deadline. “Bask in this win. Let it sink in a little what you stand to lose.”

  Byron was well aware of what he had to lose. He was also shrewd enough to realize that paying Carlton anything wasn’t going to make this problem go away. He needed to know how far this guy was willing to go.

  “What if I say no?” Byron asked. He crossed his arms and sized up Carlton. “A DNA test will prove I’m not the father.”

  Carlton sucked his teeth and shook his head. “But the scandal it’ll cause. That, and your playboy ways. Oh, I’m sure there are dozens of other women willing to come forward and claim you’re their kid’s dad.”

  The greedy gleam in Carlton’s eyes made Byron’s stomach churn. He wouldn’t doubt Carlton already had women lined up to say they’d slept with him. Even if he had a dozen paternity tests to prove his innocence, the stigma would follow him and cost him the campaign.

  “I thought you’d see what I mean,” Carlton said. “Just think it over. But not too long.” Carlton put two fingers to his brow in a mock salute and walked out.

  Byron punched his fist into his opposite hand. “Fuck!”

  Dominic frowned. “You can’t pay him. Guys like Carlton never go away. I never should have taken his first deal.”

  Byron paced back and forth. His mind raced with what to do next. He couldn’t dwell on previous decisions. They were already done. Byron had agreed with all the choices he’d made, and he’d deal with the results of those decisions.

  “Protecting Zoe is what matters,” he said. “Carlton just proved what I feared. Her ex is about to get out of jail and he’s looking for her. There’s no way that man needs to get close to her.”

  “If you pay him for this, you’ll have a paper trail of past dealings with him. He’ll make things worse and won’t hesitate to out you as a guy leaving babies all over the Southeast.”

  Byron stopped pacing and met Dominic’s concerned stare. “No, he won’t. I have no intentions of paying him.”

  “Then what are you going to do?”

  He was going to outplay Carlton. Byron hadn’t grown up in this family to not recognize when he needed to make a big play in order to win. “I’m going to see Zoe. It’s time we figured out our next move in this game.”

  Don’t miss what happens next in...

  Scandalous Secrets

  by Synithia Williams

  Available September 2020 wherever

  HQN books and ebooks are sold.

  www.Harlequin.com

  Copyright © 2020 by Synithia R. Williams

  Don’t miss the next sexy and irresistible book in the Jackson Falls series from

  Synithia Williams

  Can they do what’s right...without betraying their hearts?

  “A romance for readers looking for equal parts passion and family drama.”

  —Kirkus Reviews on Forbidden Promises

  Order your copy today!

  www.HQNBooks.com

  Love Harlequin romance?

  DISCOVER.

  Be the first to find out about promotions, news and exclusive content!

  Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks

  Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks

  Instagram.com/HarlequinBooks

  Pinterest.com/HarlequinBooks

  ReaderService.com

  EXPLORE.

  Sign up for the Harlequin e-newsletter and download a free book from any series at

  TryHarlequin.com

  CONNECT.

  Join our Harlequin community to share your thoughts and connect with other romance readers!

  Facebook.com/groups/HarlequinConnection

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given

  to Andrea Laurence for her contribution to the

  Texas Cattleman’s Club: Rags to Riches miniseries.

  ISBN-13: 9781488063169

  Billionaire Behind the Mask

  Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin S.A

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  For questions and comments about the quality of this book, please contact us at CustomerService@Harlequin.com.

  Harlequin Enterprises ULC

  22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor

  Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada

  www.Harlequin.com